Review: Mixed Precipitation’s ‘Faust’ offers fine performances in challenging outdoor settings

Mixed Precipitation never met an operatic convention it wasn’t fully prepared to defy. Whenever the Minneapolis-based company assembles its annual Pickup Truck Opera — formerly the Picnic Operetta — it always executes an admirable balance of affection for the grand opera canon (Handel, Mozart, Beethoven) and irreverent dashes of pop, rock and/or country.

Meanwhile, no libretto is safe from the troupe’s imaginative tweaking, as modern American culture often gets a satirical skewering.

For the 16th edition of this summer-into-autumn statewide touring tradition, the jumping-off point is Charles Gounod’s 1859 slice of French romanticism, “Faust.” Yes, it’s built around that legendary tale of a man who sells his soul for youth and success, but Mixed Precipitation has transformed it into something considerably closer to sci-fi, as Faust and his demonic enabler, Mephistopheles, are caught up in the colonizing of other planets.

And this year’s opera is served up à la mode. Depeche Mode, that is. The British band that set dance clubs a-throbbing in the ‘80s and ‘90s with such rock-electronica mixes as “People Are People” and “Enjoy the Silence” has its tunes inserted between the arias, usually on full-cast singalongs accompanied by electric guitar, violin and cello.

Does it work? Well, maybe the setting was less than ideal for the production’s first Twin Cities presentation after a week up north. Minneapolis’ Loring Park is lovely, especially the Garden of the Seasons that served as a backdrop for Thursday night’s performance. But some extra percussion came courtesy of the thwacking of pickleball matches about 40 feet away and other urban noises (including neighboring Interstate 94) often drowned out all instruments save music director Gary Ruschman’s electric guitar. And that didn’t seem enough when compared with the lushness of Gounod’s original orchestrations.

Maybe I was spoiled by the company’s very funny satirical scripts of the past two summers, which brought Vincenzo Bellini’s “The Capulets and the Montagues” to the turf of tech company culture and turned Mozart’s “The Magic Flute” into a commentary on modern education. Playwright Max Yeshaye’s attempt to turn this tale of a deal with the devil into a fable about sending all our earthly problems to outer space lacked much of the company’s customary wit and seemed to struggle with adapting the opera’s story to the sci-fi scenario.

That said, there are some fine performers in the cast of 10. Baritone Justin Anthony Spenner is a charismatic scene-stealer with a rich, powerful voice as Mephistopheles, the procurer of souls. And soprano Caroline Kouma did some marvelous things with the melancholy arias of Faust’s love interest, Marguerite, here a brilliant physicist. (Corissa Bussian takes over the role on Aug. 22 through the end of the run.)

But the strongest voice in the bunch belonged to mezzo-soprano Jill Morgan in the role of Marguerite’s other chief suitor, Siebel, most notably as she belted out an impassioned aria of longing powerful enough to carry across the park. While tenor Maurice Fields’ Faust had some volume issues, his high notes were beautifully shaped.

And one of the delightful Easter eggs of a Mixed Precipitation opera is how the translations emerge from all sorts of imaginative places, consistently bringing smiles, even to an opera about a satanic bargain.

When and where: Through Sept. 15 at parks, farms and wineries in Eagan, St. Croix Falls, Wis., Shafer, West St. Paul, Wykoff, Lake City, Minneapolis, St. Anthony, Hastings, St. Louis Park, Woodbury, Brooklyn Park, St. Paul and Faribault.

Tickets: $5-$45, available at mixedprecipitation.org.

Rob Hubbard is a Twin Cities classical music writer. Reach him at wordhub@yahoo.com.